Today's Days of '47 Sunrise Service was all about Utah's early pioneers and the God they believed in.

"We gather to celebrate Pioneer Day and all of us express gratitude to those who sacrificed everything to build up this community," said Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Rasband told the audience, which filled much of the Tabernacle on Temple Square, about his pioneer ancestors, who were members of the ill-fated Willie Handcart Company that came to Utah in 1856. Elder Rasband's great-great-grandparents, Thomas and Sarah Moulton, and their family joined the group of Mormon immigrants after converting to the LDS Church in England, he said. Because of delays, the company was caught in an early winter and eventually lost 66 members, but none of the 10 members of the Moulton family died, Elder Rasband said.

Elder Rasband marveled at the struggles Utah's early pioneers went through.

"How can we imagine?" he said. "How can we with our plenty understand the weakness and the tiredness that comes with lack of nourishment?"

Elder Rasband's great-grandfather, John Hawkins, was a member of a relief party that came from Utah to aid the struggling pioneers, and it was then that he met his future bride, Sarah Elizabeth Moulton, Elder Rasband said.

Pastor Mike Imperiale of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City spoke about the beliefs Christians share in God, who, he said, "seeks to redeem each one of us, one by one, through faith in Christ.

"What a wonderful and awesome God we have," Pastor Imperiale said.

Pastor Imperiale pointed out that insulating material with the brand name "Ultra Grace" printed on it was used on the roof of the Tabernacle during its renovation. How fitting, he said, that those present were also "sitting under the grace of our awesome God."

A combined choir made up of members of eight choirs from around Utah sang patriotic and religious songs at the service, accompanied by piano and by the Tabernacle's historic organ. The event was presented by the Pioneer Chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers.

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E-mail: dfelix@desnews.com